Alpine Bobsled

Alpine Bobsled
Queue entrance gate with purple track in background.
Location	The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom
Park section	Fest Area
Type	Steel
Status	Open
Opened	1998 (built in 1984)
Manufacturer	Intamin AG
Model	Bobsled roller coaster
Height	6 ft (1.8 m)
Length	1,490 ft (450 m)
Max speed	37 mph (60 km/h)
Inversions	0
Duration	1 min. 40 sec.
Height restriction	3 ft 6 in (107 cm)
Alpine Bobsled at RCDB Pictures of Alpine Bobsled at RCDB
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Alpine Bobsled is a steel roller coaster of bobsled design. It has been at three places:

• From 1984 to 1988, named Sarajevo Bobsled, at Six Flags Great Adventure
• From 1989 to 1996, named Rolling Thunder, at Six Flags Great America
• Since 1998, named Alpine Bobsled, at The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in Queensbury, New York.

Theming

The alpine theme of the coaster was partly inspired by the park's proximity to Lake Placid New York where the 1980 and 1932 Winter Olympics, both of which included bobsled races, were held. The ride has four cars, all themed from different countries: the United States, Canada, Italy, and Jamaica. A large archway is the entrance to the long queue area leading up to the loading station. The arch itself is decorated with an old Olympic-style bobsled and the path up to the loading area is scattered with old broken sleds as well. The loading station is built to resemble an 19th century alpine ski lodge. The outside of the bobsled's trough is purple and white, with the inside also being white.

History

The coaster was built in 1984 and was located at Six Flags Great Adventure as the Sarajevo Bobsled. The ride was quite popular. Its purpose was to commemorate the 1984 Olympics. The area of the park was becoming dull and needed an overhaul.

In the spring of 1988, it was determined that this area would have an Airplane/Space/Boardwalk theme, and that the park needed a larger roller coaster, and that the coaster would occupy the land that Sarajevo Bobsleds was occupying. The Bobsled was then closed mid season and dismantled. The coaster was replaced with a multiple steel looping roller coaster that was then state of the art and would for a month be the tallest coaster in the world. That coaster is known as the Great American Scream Machine and still operates today as one of the least popular coasters in the park due to its jarring ride.

After the ride was dismantled and removed, it was relocated to Six Flags Great America in 1989 and in 1990 opened as Rolling Thunder.

It was replaced by Raging Bull, a state of the art steel hyper twister non-looping coaster. Rolling Thunder was then sold to Premier Parks and then moved to Great Escape in 1997.

It reopened in 1998 as Alpine Bobsleds. Premiere Parks bought Six Flags in 1998 bringing Great Escape into and this coaster back to the Six Flags family.

Ride experience

Riders are arranged two across in four rows per car. Since each car travels individually and contains only eight riders, the Alpine Bobsled's wait times can sometimes be long.

References

• Alpine Bobsled listing at RCDB.com